Aligning device



June 25; 1957 V G. R. BRoDlE 2,797,098

v ALIGNING DEVICE Filed Dec. 10, 1954 4 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR George R. .Brcdie BY June 25, 1957 G. R. BRODIE ALIGNING DEVICE Filed Dee. 1o, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTQR George R. Brgdie June 25, 1957 G. R. BRoDlE 2,797,098

ALIGN-.ING DEVICE Filed DSG. 10, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 l aww- INVENTOR George R. Brodie June 25, 1957 G. R. BRoDlE ALIGNING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 10, 1954 FIG. 5

INVENTOR George R. Brodie ATTORNEY United States Patent pany, liuc.,V New Yrlrl, N. Y., aL corporation of New York..

Application December 10, .1954, Serial No. 474,474

11 ClimS (CIJ l 271-87) This invention relatesV to the art ofprintingV and more particularly tol thestacking' and" accurately aligning the corresponding' edges of "printedsheets Iof paper, or' the like.' ltf provides-a* novel machine: of Iparticular'utility in the aligning and stacking of folded sheets; especially folded signatures as they are'rapidly'delivered from the folder' of a rotary, web-type printing/press:

As is well known in the printing art, and particularly in magazine and boolcl printing, it'I is customary to-equip such pressesiwith mechanisms adapted to f receive the printeduweb" and` to cut and fold the web-to'form what arelilnownf'assignatures.- These signatures: usually consist ofbneor more printed sheetsiof equal size" uniformly folded together. Theflength andbrea-dth ofsignatures may. varyovera'i considerable range; depending on the particularrpressfset upp Frequently,` signatures will measure: abouti 15% inchesby 5%- inches; the foldiusually being alongzone of thelongedgesfof the signatureeand the inventioniwill be more speci'cally described;- andillustrated Withrrespect to signaturesfof those: generali proportions.

The: signatures` are rapidly' deliveredA by.. the folding mechanism andy must: be collected' andf stacked for `subsequent assembling withiother.i signaturestofform i af complete publication.'y The aligning'and stackingfof' the'signatures; asthey'co'me from the folderf iseusually done. by hand-and care zmustwbefexercised. tofavoid damagingtheir edges.- rlhe:aligningiszusually accomplished; to a more or less imperfect extent, by takingga'pileof'thefsignatures andtapping the" edges of therpilefonfa-flat'surface; But even thou'ghf aVV relativelyI thiirpile of ther-signaturesl is': so tapped, thereisfconsiderablefresistanceto their alignment duevtosfriction betweemadjacent-sheets: Therefore;- any projecting-:,edgesof the;y signaturesare frequently-,damaged in-Athis aligningoperationl Also,th`e. procedure isusually tedious,` timeconsuming `andfrelativelyfcostlytV Thef'presentinvention .providesafm-achineffor automatic-allyfaligningy signatures and the: like; whereby theyV are accurately. aligned without injury to their edges `andfrnanualoperations are: minimized;

Iniaczcordance'withmy present invention, the signatures arey delivered in .rapid succession fromi the Ifolder to t the upper` portion-.ofaichute conforming generally in crosssectionfto the. lengthandbreadth of` thefsignature;` 'Phe signatures. enter thcwchute separately along; a substantially.A horizontal plane so that: each'lsignatureis permitted to fall vertically in the chute for a substantial distance without.frictionalacontact with. the precedingor following signature,v thus. permitting each signature to4 ber freely moved endwise, or cross-wise, within thechutetor bring their edges into alignment with the stack of signatures which have accumulated within the chute. The lower portion ofthe chute is curved at an angle of about 90 so that the aligned signatures leaving the chute-exit are in a substantiallyr vertical plane.

The aligningV of the signatures within the chute is further promoted'by means for vibrating the chute and :the aligning rmay be further facilitated by guides and' ICC 2. other auxiliary equipment' hereinafter more fully described. and illustrated.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the inventionlisrepresentedby the accompanying diawings,\.of whichv FigureV 1l is a sideview ot" the machinein perspective showing si gnatures in' aligned position;

Fig. 2 is a front end view of the machine, also in perspective;`

Fig; 3 isa' somewhat'enlarged perspective view of'th'e chute and a=coperating receiving table; also' showing a stack of aligned'signatures;

Fig; 4 isa still further enlarged'perspe'ctiveview oftlie chuteshowing-auxiliary equipment in'greater. detail, and

Fig: 54V is aAV detailedl side View' in` perspective of the ohutei with auxiliary equipment and' driving 'mechanism for operating the same.

Referring m'ore'- particularlytotFigs: l and 2of' the drawings; the stackingandali'gningmechanisms are'supportedby a; rigidrectangularb'ediframe composed of' side members?. 1f' andl end members 2V fastened together at the corners as by-welding Theebedlframeis, inturn, supportedibyflegf 3lextendingV through adjustablesleeves 4, secured; asby welding, tty-theiblocksr 5 which, in turn, are-welded`tothe side-members-of-thebed frame; rlhe heightslof thelbcdffframe-'mayf-be adjusted and the frame leveledlby slidinglthe' legsf throughlthe` respectivesleeves- 4 and,` when' proper adjustmenthas'been made, the position ofthe legsV within the` sleeves istmaintainedby meansioffset screwsiai 'Elie' chuteiforf receiving and? aligning the lsignatures-` is positionedilatltherear.'end ofthe bediframeiand Visformed by substantially parallel end walls 7 and Slandlsubstantially parallel frontandt rearfsidei walls 9 and 10; respectively, forming va rectangular upperiportion' ofthetchute conforming generally to the lengtln andzwidthofthe particular 'signaturesztoberstacked.. The walls of: the1chute. are, with advantage; .fabricated ofPlexiglas, or'like rigidtransparent material; 4so thatthe course of thefsignaturesf through the chute: can be-readily observed.

The'end wallss7 andS are positioned at arslightangle from the -verticalgfor reasons which:willhereinafterappear. The rear.- wall. lill is` so =curved-and 'extended asto form'the bottornaexitof the chute :attanangle substantially `from theinletend'.- Theffront wall:9=may, Vif desired, beextended-downwardly alongan arc parallel 4to `rear wall ldllor thelower endoffwalflS "may beomitted, as shown in the drawing.

Theend walls /ancLSl-are'rigidly4 fastened tothe side walls-9 and. lil, as bymeansof' brackets 11; The end walls are, in turn, supported by brackets 121having ilanges lratrtheir lowerends byf which ythe brackets are secured to rubber cushion blocks Ill'whichare, in-turn; fastened to. `thebedframe.V The cushion blocks are provided to permitvibration of the chute.

Extending. outwardly from the` chute exity along the plane of the lower wall:of. thesexit is aA receiving table, more clearly shown-in Figure` 2 ofthe drawingS, Composed of parallel crossr members 15. andspaced, longitudinal plates 16: secured tothey cross. members as by machine` screwsV 1.7:. Extending.,I alongv one side of the receiving table is asideguide composed of a rigid plate 18 secured, as by means of .screws,-to upward extensions 19 of.v the cross membersl5.

The receiving. table` and 'sideY guide are supportedV by the bed frame and are. rigidly fastened thereto by means of blocks.20-secured,.as by welding, to the bed frame and rods 21 extending through blocks 26 and the respective ends of the cross members 15.-

At each endof the table, there are provided. three sprockets or pulleys 22rotatably mounted onfshafts 23. Extendingabout each set of pulleys is a conveyory belt24 which together form a conveyor surface substantially flush with the chute exit and adapted to move along the table from the chute exit as the stacked signatures are delivered from the chute with the signatures lying in a vsubstantially vertical plane.

At each end of the receiving table side guide, there is a sprocket or pulley 25 rotatably mounted on shafts 26 and supported by bearing blocks 27. Extending about the pulleys 25 is an endless belt 28 adapted to move along the surface of guide plate 18 in a direction away from the chute. y

In order to avoid slippage of the belts 24 and 28, I have, with advantage, used belts such as conventionally used as timing belt drives and for the pulleys I have used sprockets having gear-like teeth adapted to cooperate with the inward projections on the belt, as shown in the drawings. At least one of each set of sprockets is driven, advantageously by variable speed means, so as to move the delivered stacked signatures uniformly along the table at the desired rate.

While moving along the receiving table, the stacked signatures are held in a vertical position by means of a relatively heavy angle iron 29 which rests freely on the conveyor belts and is moved thereby along the table with the stacked signatures as they accumulate.

The outer end of the receiving table is provided with a cradle composed of parallel angle irons 30 secured by welding or other suitable means to plate 31, which is hinged at 32 to the outer end of the table. As shown more clearly in Figure 2 of the drawings, the angle irons 30 are composed of parallel arms 33 extending longitudinally of the table between the space plates 16 so that their upper surfaces are lower than the surface of the conveyor belts 24. Arms 34 of these angle irons extend substantially perpendicular to the arms 33. This cradle serves to swing a stack of signatures from the horizontal to the vertical position, as more clearly shown in Figure 1, to facilitate subsequent handling and trans- -portation to a place of storage.

In operation, the signatures are delivered to the chute, as by means of a horizontal conveyor belt such as shown at 35. This belt is usually operated at a relatively high speed so that the signatures are shot from the belt against the end wall 7 of the chute. The signatures thus enter the chute separately along a generally horizontal plane and fall freely by gravity onto the pile of signatures which has accumulated in the chute. The upper surface of the pile should be kept sufciently below the upper end of the chute that the entering signatures fall for a substantial distance, for instance several inches, without appreciable contact with other signatures, and in so falling are readily arranged in approximate alignment with the signatures of the stack within the chute by contact with the chute walls.

A more perfect alignment of the signatures is accomplished by mechanically vibrating the chute during the operation. For this purpose, I have provided an electrically operated vibrator represented at 36, as more clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. This vibrator is suspended on brackets 37 bolted to the rear side wall of the chute. By thus vibrating the chute, the signatures can usually be brought into substantially perfect alignment without bending, or otherwise damaging, the edges of the individual signatures.

However, when operating the press at extremely high speeds, such that the signatures are delivered extremely rapidly to the chute, I have found it particularly advantageous to provide certain additional safeguards and auxiliary aligning guides, as hereinafter described.

In usual operation, the signatures will he delivered to the chute with their folded, thicker edge adjacent the rear end wall 10. In extremely high speed operation, I have found it advantageous to provide means for tilting the front edge of the signatures slightly upwardly and for urging the folded edge of the signature against the rear side wall 10. For this purpose, I have provided at the opposite side of the entrance of the signature to the chute, an upwardly and outwardly tapering guide member 38 and a second member 39 positioned on the front side wall at the far end of the chute and having a bevelled forward edge.

Also, with advantage, the chute is provided near its exit with top guides 40 and 40 having their lower surfaces eurved to conform generally to the curvature of the rear side wall 10 and spaced therefrom a distance equal to the width of the signatures to be stacked. Where desired, these additional guides for the upper surface of the stacked signatures may be provided by a downward extension of the front side Wall 9. In either case, these curved guides, in conjunction with the vibrating of the chute, have been found effective in pushing downwardly into the stack any signatures which might extend slightly above the upper surface of the stack.

In the drawings, the curved guide 40 is shown as secured at its forward edge to the side plate 9 by means of bracket 41 and supported at its outer end by means of bolt 42 secured to end plate 8. The guide 40 is likewise supported at its rear end by front side plate 9 and at its outer end by means of bracket 44 secured to the rear bearing block 27.

As previously noted herein, the chute is, with advantage, tilted slightly upwardly at its entrance end so that its end walls 7 and 8 are inclined somewhat from the vertical plane, advantageously at an angle of about 6 to 12 from the vertical. The purpose of this is so that the end wall 7 will act more effectively as an aligning surface for the separately entering signatures. I have found, however, that where the signatures are shot against the end wall 7 with excessive momentum, there is sometimes a tendency for them to rebound. Also, where the delivery of the signatures to the chute is at relatively low speed, they may not, at times, have sufcient momentum to pass entirely into the chute and thus may accumulate just inside the chute entrance.

To avoid these conditions just noted, I have, with advantage, provided at the entrance of the chute, means for urging the signatures into the chute *for their full length and for urging the rear end of the signatures downwardly into the chute and toward the back side wall 10 and end wall 7 which serve as aligning surfaces for the edge of the signatures.

For this purpose, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings, I provide at the entrance of the chute a pair of conveyor belts 45, of the timing belt type previously described, mounted on idler sprockets 46 and driven sprockets 47. The inner face of these belts extends downwardly for a short distance along end wall 8 of the chute, extending inwardly from the wall only a sucient distance to make contact with the signatures. The sprockets 46 are so positioned with respect to the conveyor belt 35 that the signatures entering the chute from conveyor 35 pass in contact with the upper surfaces of the belts 45, which are normally driven at a linear speed considerably higher than the velocity of the entering signatures, thus insuring that the signatures entering the box to their full width independent of their momentum. Also, in passing downwardly along the face of the chute these belts urge the rear ends of the signatures downwardly into the chute.

The sprockets 47 are driven by shaft 48, supported by bearing block 49. The shaft 48 is, in turn, driven through sprockets 50 and 51 and timing belts 52 by means of v variable speed motor represented at 53.

As further means for urging the signatures downwardly into the chute and against the rear side wall 10 thereof, I provide adjacent the front end wall 8 a rotatably mounted knurled disc 54, secured to shaft and adapted to rotate so that its knurled surface moves downwardly within the chute while projecting only slightly inwardly of the inner face of the front side wall 9 so as to make arcanes contact with the edges of the signatures. The knurled disc is mounted on shaft` 55and driven by variable speed motor 53 through sprocket 51 and shaft 56 and the sprocket 57 and timing belt 58 shown in dotted lines in Figure of the drawings.

Should the aligned signatures pass too slowly from the chute, they might accumulate therein to a height which would not allow adequate-free fall of the yentering signatures to permit theirtready alignment while out of contact with adjacentsignatures. Inorder to avoid such condition, I provide automatic means for giving an alarm or for automatically increasing the'speed of conveyor belts 24 whenever4 a predetermined height of the signatures in the chute is-exceeded. For this purpose, I have, with advantage, equippedthe chute Withvan electric eye 60 and a beam projector 61V so positionedwith respect to the eye and to the chute as. to direct and receive, respectively, a beam passingtransversely through the chute just. above the levelof the predetermined maximum height to which the signatures are permitted to accumulate therein.

The electric eye `60 is `supportedv'to the rear of the chute by means of bracket 62 secured to the base frame of the machine andithe beam projector 61 is supported by bracket 63 also secured to the base frame through journal block 64. Positioned' on the front'side wall 9 of the chute there is provided-a.1ug65invthe` path of the beam and having an opening throughthe bodyrthereof to permit passage of the beam'andmore accurately to control and restrictth'e'pathlofthe beamlthroughfthe chute.

Theelernents 6.1 and60-will, of course, be electrically connected, by means not-showninithe drawing but readily known to the art, to a source ofk electrical energy and to-an alarmor. automaticspeed control device, respectively. When the pile of signatures within the chute becornes so high that an entering signature fails to slip over the lug 65, the beam will be interrupted and the electric eye will automatically signal for a correction of the condition.

In order to assist the moving of the stacked and aligned signatures horizontally through the lower portion of the chute and to pack them more tightly on the receiving table, l provide on each side of the chute exit knurled cylinders 66 -and 67 adapted to be rotated in contact with the re-l spective edges of the stacked and aligned signatures. The' knurled cylinder 66 is secured to shaft 68 supported by journal block 64 and is adapted to be driven through bevelled gears 69, shaft 70, sprocket 71, and drive chain 72 from any convenient source, not shown in the drawing, advantageously a variable speed motor.

Knurled cylinder 67 is secured to shaft 73 supported by journal block 27 and adapted to be driven by means of bevelled gears from the shaft 70. The shaft 70 may also serve to drive the driven sprockets 22 over which the conveyor belts 24 pass and shaft 73 may also be used to support and drive the rear drive sprocket 25 over which belt 28 passes.

A particularly advantageous aspect of the apparatus described is the curvature at the lower portion of the chute. This not only constitutes means for delivering the stacked signatures to the receiving table in a hori-,. zontal position but is also designed to prevent uneven and excessive build-up of the stack in the chute along the folded edges of the signature which might cause a portion of the stack to slide forward with respect to another portion.

It will be recognized th-at the folded edges of the signatures will ordinarily be thicker than their opposite edges. The difference in thickness will vary with the type of paper used in the printing operation and the number of folded sheets per signature. For optimum results, the radius of the curvature of the wall and the radius of the curvature of the guides 40 and 40', or of the extension of side wall 9 when that is used, should be so correlated, relative to the increase in thickness of the folded edges of the signature, Ias to deliver each signature to the receiving table ina substantially vertical position.

By thus correlating the radius of curvature, there is no excessive build-up ofthe stack at the folded edges of the signatures and those edges are-kept closely and evenly against the curved side of wall 10 and thereby precisely aligned.

in the apparatus shown in the drawings, the radius of curvature of the outer curve has, with advantage, been made about l2 inches, and that of the inner curve approximately 6% inches. These curves may be about a common center sothat the' distance between the upper and lower guides remains constant while providing a correspondingly greaterl linear distance along the outer curve to accommodate the greater' thickness of the signature at their folded` edges, each of the curved surfaces bearing at all times upon the respective signatures, thus acting as positive aligning surfaces.

In some instancesit is desirable to bring'curved surfaces gradually closer together so as to exert a wedging action againstvthe edges of the signatures as they moved downwardly through the curved portion of the chute while being vibrated the minimum distances between the curved surfaces being just the height of the stacked signatures. ThisV may be accomplished by describing the curvatures about different centers.

For most advantageous operation, the upper curved surface shouldbe ofsuch curvature as to coincide with the normal curvature ofthe upper portion of the stacked and uniformly packed signatures and should be spaced from the lower-` curved surfaces, at least toward the lower end of the chute, a distance just equal to the width of the signatures. These conditions will of course, vary with sig-natures. of. different dimensions and thicknesses.

Though it have#y described with considerable particularity, certain embodiments of my invention which have been found particularly useful, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific elements described, except as dened in the appended claims.

l claim:

l. A machine for stacking in accurate alignment folded signatures as they are delivered from the folder of a rotary, web-type printing press, comprising in combination a chute of rectangular transverse section of dimensions conforming generally to the length and breadth, respectively, of the folded signatures to be stacked, the upper end of the chute being substantially vertical and unobstructed and its lower end being curved outwardly at an angle of about and terminating in a substantially horizontal exit, means for directing the folded, unstacked signatures along a substantially horizontal plane into the upper, open end of the chute against an end wall thereof, means for vibrating the chute, a table for receiving the stacked signatures from the chute exit having its upper surface lying in the plane of the lower surface of the chute exit and extending outwardly therefrom, the surface of the receiving table comprising a conveyor for receiving the stacked signatures and adapted to be moved along the table in a direction away from the chute exit and means for holding the stacked signatures in a vertical position as they are moved along the table.

2. The machine of claim l further characterized in that the chute is tilted endwise at an angle of 6 to 12 from the vertical.

3. The machine of claim 2 further characterized in that the receiving table is tilted sideways at an angle of 6 to 12 from the horizontal to coincide with the chute exit and that it is provided with a guide substantially perpendicular to the table surface extending along the lower side of the table, said guide comprising a plane surface adapted to be moved along the table in a direction away from the chute exit.

4. The machine of claim 3 further characterized in that the side guide of the receiving table comprises pulleys rotatably mounted at each end of the table about an axis perpendicular to the table surface, an endless belt extending around the pulleys, one outer face of the belt forming the face of the guide, and means for driving at least one of the pulleys.V

5. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that the conveyor surface of the receiving table comprises a plurality of belts adapted to be moved along the length of the table and means for so moving the belts at a uniform variable speed.

6. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that the substantially vertical portion of the chute is delineated by a rear side-wall, on the side opposite-the chute exit, an opposite front side wall and two end walls and is provided at the entrance for the signatures with guide means adapted to tilt and to deflect the entering signatures against the rear side wall thereof and comprising an inclined outwardly tapering member positioned at the forward side of the path of the entering signatures and a second member positioned on the front side wall of the chute and having a bevelled forward edge.

7. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that there is provided within the chute, adjacent the entrance of the signatures thereto, movable surfaces adapted to be moved downwardly in contact with the edges of the signatures therein for urging the rear ends of said signatures downwardly in the chute.

8. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that the front and rear walls of the chute are fabricated of transparent material and the chute is provided with automatic means for determining when the height of the pile of signatures within the chute has exceeded a predetermined level.

9. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that the receiving table is provided at its outer end with a cradle comprising an arm adapted to extend longitudinally along the table and flush with the table surface, an end bracket extending substantially perpendicular to said arm, said cradle being hinged to the outer end of said table and adapted to be swung through an angle of to bring said arm to a substantially vertical position.

10. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that there is provided at each side of the chute exit a knurled cylinder rotatably mounted about axes perpendicular to the plane of the table surface, the knurled surfaces of said cylinders being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the length of the signatures to be stacked and adapted to be rotated in contact with the edges of said signatures in a direction to urge the stacked signatures toward the receiving table.

11. The machine of claim 1 further characterized in that the radius of the curvature of the lower end of the chute is so correlated with the dierence in thickness of the folded edge, and the opposite edge, of the signatures to be stacked as to provide a correspondingly greater linear distance along the outer side of the curve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,327,588 Brown et al. Jan. 6, 1920 1,381,318 Lund June 14, 1921 1,756,920 Gollnick et al Apr. 29, 1930 1,898,704 Winkler et al. Feb. 21, 1933 2,054,831 Peters Sept. 22, 1936 2,525,311 Peyrebrune Oct. 10, 1950 2,687,301 Sooy et al. Aug. 24, 1954 2,699,942 Rincer Ian. 18, 1955 

